Cowboys Should Give Ezekiel Elliott a Raise for 2019 and Then Sign Him to Big Extension Next Year

Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott made headlines recently when his holdout from training camp became official as his demand for a long-term extension has not yet been fulfilled.

The 24-year-old is entering the fourth year of a five-year contract worth $24.5 million. For arguably the best running back in the league, however, Elliott is severely underpaid. And the Cowboys need to do something about it to avoid this from dragging on into the season.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently made some comments that could have been seen as a slight to Elliott as well, which just doesn't help anything.

"That's one of the dilemmas at running back, is that the league knows that you can win Super Bowls and not have the Emmitt Smith back there, or not have Zeke back there."

At the VERY least, the team should consider a raise for Zeke in 2019 and then maybe that will buy them time to sign him to an extension next offseason as they work out some financials with their tight salary cap.

The Cowboys have an additional $3.5 million in cap space to boost Elliott's salary, so perhaps giving him an extra $2 million this year will convince him to come back. The Rams gave Robert Woods a raise for this year and next year after his huge campaign, so this isn't out of the question.